Not a Magician
by Jen K
Summary: Murphy has a question for Harry but it's not what he expected. TV verse.


I basked in the low glow of the refrigerator, staring at the slim pickings inside. I'm not exactly sure why I opened it. Nothing had changed since breakfast. It only held some questionable milk and some even more questionable Chinese take-out from god-knows-when. That was the problem with refrigerators. They only had food if you put it in them first.

I was about to grab my coat to head to the store when I heard a knock on the front door.

"Harry?"

I recognized Murphy's voice.

"Hey Murphy,"

"Can I come in?" Her question was only formality since she was already inside.

"What can I do you for?"

She smirked back at me. "I've been thinking a lot about things…I have some questions for you."

I knew this was coming. Murphy had seen enough magic in the last few weeks to be rightfully suspicious. I decided my best tactic was to play innocent for now, at least until I knew exactly what she was asking.

"About what?"

Murphy pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Last week I cuffed you. You got out of them in under thirty seconds. I want to know how."

_With all the things she'd seen and this was what she wanted to know?_

"That's what you came here to ask me? How I got out of your handcuffs?"

"We'll start there."

"Murphy, that's amateur stuff. I picked them."

"OK, show me." And before I knew what had happened, she cuffed my wrist and then her own so that we were handcuffed to each other. She was quick with her handcuffs, I had to give her that. I'd have to remember never to give her reason to draw her gun.

"Jeez, Murphy. What did you do that for?"

"Let's see it. Get out of them."

"You know the old saying, 'a magician never reveals his secret'. It ruins the whole trick if you see it."

"Last I checked, you're not a magician; you're a wizard. Says so on the front door. Now show me how you got out of them. That's a police order."

Damn it. My father had taught me how to pick handcuffs. It was one of his better "magic" tricks but that wasn't really saying much. I had practiced it a few times as a child but quickly lost interest. Why master lock picking when you could practice real magic? Now I cursed myself for not paying more attention to my father's lessons.

"Well, you need a paper clip or a hair pin. I don't have one on me right now."

Murphy reached into her hair with her free hand and pulled out a bobby pin. I was close enough to smell her shampoo as she shuffled through her hair to retrieve the pin.

"Thanks," I replied unenthusiastically. I started to try and pick the lock, explaining it as I went. "You just slide the pin in here and twist it."

I grunted as I fiddled with the pin. It wasn't working. I cursed under my breath. I could feel Murphy's eyes boring into me. I felt my heart begin to race; my hands grew less steady. And then I felt the pin snap apart inside the lock.

_Think fast, Dresden_._ She's getting suspicious._

"You know, I'm used to doing it behind my back." Before she could resist, I pulled both of our arms up over our heads and twisted them around our backs. I hoped I hadn't hurt her but I was running out of options.

"Dresden!" She yelled more in shock than in pain.

Before Murphy could look behind her I used a spell and released the cuffs. I handed them back to Murphy.

"There you go."

"I didn't see it. Do it again."

"Murphy…"

"You can do it behind your back. I'll watch." She thrust the cuffs back at me.

I looked her straight in the eye. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Murphy, there's no trick to it. It's magic."

I wondered what the High Council would say about this. I knew with the way things were going, I was going to have to tell her about magic eventually. It would make my job a whole lot easier.

She stared at me, eyes not moving from my own. My heart beat faster. I wasn't sure if it was because I was afraid of her reaction or if it was that I noticed just how beautiful her eyes were when they were filled with such unwavering intensity. I stared back trying to maintain my composure and the look of naïve innocence that I had perfected for times like these.

She didn't blink.

"Like you said before," I added, now almost afraid of her penetrating eyes. "I'm a wizard."

Her left eye squinted slightly, creating little crinkles in its wake, and her lips broke into a half smile. "Fine, Dresden. Don't tell me. But I'm going to figure it out."

I shrugged my shoulders. I knew I wasn't off the hook but all in all, that could have turned out much worse.

"You wanna grab lunch?" Murphy asked.

"Now you're talking."

"You're treating."

"Me?" I raised my hand to my chest in mock disbelief. "With the salary you pay me?"

I grabbed my coat and put my hand on Murphy's shoulder, escorting her toward the door.

"That's how I know you can't really do magic. If you could, you would've conjured up some more money by now."

I smirked as I locked the front door behind us.

"Yeah, you'd think that…" I mumbled under my breath. And then I said aloud, "So where do you wanna eat?"


End file.
